Batam hospital performs Riau Islands’ first brain aneurysm clipping

Embung Fatimah Regional General Hospital in Batam has performed the first cerebral aneurysm clipping operation in Indonesia’s Riau Islands province, bringing complex neurosurgical care closer to patients who previously had to travel to Medan or Jakarta.

The procedure was carried out by the hospital’s neurosurgeon with a team from Mahar Mardjono National Brain Center Hospital through a clinical proctoring program. Health Minister Budi Gunadi Sadikin said having trained staff and suitable facilities in Batam should accelerate treatment while allowing patients to remain near their families. He said it was the first time he had seen aneurysm clipping conducted at the district or city hospital level rather than only at a provincial hospital.

Hospital leaders said the expansion is supported by an independently operated CT scanner and additional doctors provided through the Health Ministry. The ministry has also committed to supplying further equipment, including neurosurgical instruments, a C-arm imaging system and a surgical microscope.

The longer-term goal is for Embung Fatimah hospital to manage 80 to 90 percent of stroke patients locally. One operation does not by itself achieve that ambition, but it demonstrates that advanced brain surgery can be developed beyond major referral centres when regional hospitals have appropriate specialists, facilities and supervision.